Ride 761: Reserve
Pag 1
1: Please get ready the allen key, the allen key
Time is going by
Yessir!!
6mm
Yessir
4: You gotta calm down
Ye.... yessir, teh!!
You're frozen stiff
Pag 2
1: Sugimoto-san, where do I put this
The supplies box is under the foil bag over there, so put it in there
2: Ah, here?
Wait
3: Whose shoulder bag is that?
Kaburagi-san's....
4: (NdT.: the writing says “Kaburagi”)
7: This way, you won't have to look for it when you'll have to take it out
Oh... thank you so much!
Time is short when you have to hand it over, so you need to take your time with preparation beforehand
8: 40 minutes before the start!!
Pag 3
1: Alright, let's get your heartbeat up one more time
Yessir, teh
Is he alright?
Soon my role as a reserve will be over
Pag 4
1: Pfuui, it's hot
Together with the signal gun at the start....
3: No....
4: I guess it's already over?
6: These six people are already rock solid
Pag 5
1: I'm sure they'll run a good race
2: How about you sit down? Sugimoto-kun
The preparations are almost done
3: And you've been standing on your feet working since this morning
Pag 6
6: I feel.... disappointed
7: Even though I lost during training camp, I was still told I'd be the reserve
I guess I still “felt like I had a chance”
Pag 7
1: Say, Sugimoto-kun
Huh
Ah, yes!?
2: Why did you start riding bikes?
4: Ah, yeah, I've never told you?
5: Yeah
Well.... it's a silly story
It's just an ordinary story that's not worth listening to- you still want to hear it?
Yeah
7: My father used to ride a road bike
He suggested it to me but I was scared so I didn't
Pag 8
1: But, one day.... ah... well, my father's family home is in Okayama
In the north of Okayama at the border with Shimane, there's a huge mountain called “Mt. Daisen”
2: One time, when he made me get on a rental bike and run, he said “let's go there”, and took me there even though I didn't want to
3: For some reason, I was deeply moved
That majestic mountain's scenery kept changing as I advanced
4: I thought it was really interesting
5: Even though I said I was scared of falling, I soon got absorbed in riding
Pag 9
1: And I thought it was fun
2: I could ride this forever...
3: that's what I thought
4: After that I asked my father to take me to, like, Lake Kawaguch or Hakone on the weekends. We went to Hakone three times, three times (haha)
5: But still, the first time you see the scenery from a mountain is the best
Pag 10
1: Maybe I wanted to see the scenery for the first time
3: When I became an high-school student, I met Naruko, Onoda, and Imaizumi
Well, I had already heard about Imaizumi in middle school races
Those three....
4: I saw them running in the Inter High giving their whole body and soul
Midosuji!!
5: I saw them from up close
Onodaaa
Onoda-kun!!
Onodaaa
Pag 11
1: In my third year, I thought I wanted to see this Inter High's scenery
3: from inside the course
6: For sure
Pag 12
1: It didn't come true though
3: No no
4: Hahaha!! Why am I talking about such gloomy things before the start!!
Sorry, sorry, forget what I said just now, forget it!! Let's be bright!!
5: I'm their support, after all
My role is to be their backup!! Yes!!
Pag 13
2: The participants will be at the starting line soon
3: I give up....
4: Ah, ah
What's wrong?
5: Ah, every year we gather cyclists from each school who failed to enter the race in the “selected team”, right?
6: Yeah, the team with white jerseys and number bibs in the 200s!!
There's a vacancy there
Pag 14
2: Give it your all!
Yes, senpai!!
3: Thirty minutes until the start!!
4: We were informed just now
Are you looking for someone to fill in?
Well... there are conditions... and there's probably no one....
5: who can be ready within fifteen minutes from now
Pag 15
2: Oooii
3: Oh... it's Touji-san
He's in a hurry
Are there troubles? It's the first time I see Touji-san running
4: Sugimoto!!
5: Huh!?
Onii-chan?
6: Why are you in such a hurry.... everyone has finished getting ready, we're going soon
Sugimoto-san?
Huh? Me?
Pag 16
1: Do you want to ride in the Inter High!?
2: Huh!?
3: Run!? In the Inter High!? Eh!?
You're saying this to me!?
I just got a call from the director
4: He's speaking with the main office right now
Pag 17
1: But the the team's six people are rock solid...
2: It's not Sohoku!!
It's the team with white jerseys and number bibs in the 200s!! There's a vacancy there
3: They asked us to lend them a reserve!!
4: You only have fifteen minutes to get ready
Moreover, it comes with strict conditions!!
6: Still, will you run!?
Pag 18
1: Sugimoto....!!
2: Sugimoto...!!
3: Sugimoto-kun!?
5: Sugimoto-san!!
6: Ehy ehy
No, no!!
7: Sadatoki, set the wheels on Sugimoto's frame!!
On!!
Pag 19
2: Wa- wait please. This is the third Inter High and I've always been working for this team behind the scenes
And, I mean, supporting is also an important.... role
Ye-yes, that's it
3: The Inter…..
4: High!?
Me!?
5: This is the important last Inter High, so I'll reliably support Imaizumi, Naruko and Onod-
Pag 20
1: Is there anyone who would throw away their dreams for someone else?
2: My Colnago
Pag 21
1: It's a great opportunity
Run!! Take....
2: This chance!!
Imaizumi....!!
4: That day was hectic for me
Until up twenty minutes before the starts I was frantically doing preparation for the race for everyone
Pag 22
1: And after that, somehow, I wore a jersey I had never seen before
2: And, shaking, I was standing at the starting line of the Inter High
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i'd like the rest of your opinion on jet if that's ok i like hearing peoples thoughts on him :)
SORRY i didn't see this okayyy hrm i can do that but i'll stick it under a cut. My rambles.
w the disclaimer that this really is just my opinion which means what my mind has scrambled up with without any prodding at it or outside interference (and i don't really read about or interact w content w jet and never really DID just as a btw) but basically: the way this show frames characters is very deliberate and going beyond the initial projection of who you're "meant" to see them as can be difficult sometimes (not just for this show, i mean in general wrt media analysis), esp when there's nothing else to like... cushion that.
for example iroh is obviously a fan favourite and i love him as a person who loves zuko (in both interps of that sentence), and their dynamic is really important (particularly + the standpoint of iroh being his brother's brother and what that means) but he was also you know, a revered general who lead a years long siege in support of the colonial regime...? this is kind of a mirror of what i'm getting at in that the show doesn't WANT you to or even feels the need to particularly dwell on that, even if his active hand in the war and then the subsequent movement to dismantle it firsthand is significant, because if people dwelt on it they... REALLY wouldn't like him as much on a much larger scale and he wouldn't be the same character anyways. i actually think it's a disservice to say the show doesn't at alllll address this bc i think it's obviously a huge part of who his character is next to zuko even though obviously the children's show is not going to be able to handle colonialism or genocide in a way that doesn't in some way feel flattened obv. anyway.
this is essentially why it took me such a while to warm up to jet even though he is a pretty cookie cutter "look beyond what you see" guy bc i couldn't really DO IT other than holding obviously a lot of sympathy for him and knowing he is deliberately presented as a certain kind of quote unquote extreme product of the fire nation's tyranny, much like hama is as another popular example, even if in real life it would actually be a pretty normal reaction and that hating your oppressors obviously doesn't make you evil. my autistic ass (SORRY) simply has to imagine a world where he can eventually go "i shouldn't have tried to kill an entire village of innocent people My bad" and it's easier to think about it wrt he is also you know, like 16? and obviously a victim. i've mentioned before i struggle with moral scrupulosity and what i consider to be "right" which does affect the things i like in context as well, and jet falls pretty squarely on morally pretty dark, esp in comparison to the other antagonists on the show, but that doesn't make him a villain obv. other than that the show itself presents him as an antagonist meant to cause conflict, and you're meant to sit with what it means to see people driven to such extremes bc they feel they have no choice, but you're not necessarily meant to like him i don't think, especially when you initially meet him. he really comes off as like a Cool Guy who's all charm who uses it to get his way which can feel kind of slimey i s'pose.
thinking about jet in regards to ZUKO is what helped me wrap my brain around him as a whole and soften to his like, harshness i guess bc i think they're good foils for each other. i think without making him necessarily fangless to do it that they're a really interesting duo and i honestly love that he came back to deliberately become an antagonistic figure to zuko as well (even that both "sides" just happened to meet him 😭 like what are actually the chances lol) and that prior to it they were working side by side even for a short time. i honestly wish the show was longer than it was bc i wish he hadn't figured out iroh was a firebender as quickly as he did, or at least hadn't assumed zuko was also one, bc i think it would've been really really interesting to see the behind the scenes conflict of them being friends and working together and jet forming some sort of relationship with zuko and iroh, and THEN finding out they're who he considers inherently immoral and an enemy even though he knows he and zuko are very similar/agree/he trusts them, and what that would mean for him. the initial "he'd just freak out and accuse them of betraying their trust and the same fight happens anyway" would be a natural conclusion but i can also see it NOT happening, bc while jet is an incredibly complex interesting character i think him coming to terms with certain things and shifting his mindset would have been fulfilling for ME at least.
i know that a character doesn't have to "redeem" themselves to be worthy and that moral pureness is not exclusive to being a Good Character and i like plenty of morally grey characters trust me etc etc but i just tend to want to... enjoy engaging characters who reflect my own values enough that it's justifiable WITHIN THE CONTEXT of the rest of whatever's going on in/the relationships of the other characters which is essentially why... he's fine and i like him but he's not my favourite. and what i mean by that is like as in, i love team avatar and i don't think they themselves would be friends with jet entirely as is, but if he was in another setting or situation or show or what the hell ever i honestly wouldn't care as much. i also think it's sort of strange to be like "ha ha you don't like the character who killed/wanted to kill kids" as if that's not like totally normal to be uncomfortable with 😭 anyway. other than all that i really like how he's a retro cool anime character transplanted into the show and i like his dumb mouth grass thing and i think he could've been a cool ally and wish they'd have leant more into his connection and closeness to the freedom fighters esp in ba sing se. i also think the angle that he's somehow kissed everyone in team avatar barring the littles is really fucking funny and they would gossip about him if it wasn't so like, tragic... also i don't think he died i think he can run real fast.
OH edit: one last thing i'll tack on to like the beginning of my own thought process re: the cushioning characters are afforded we see i think actually nothing of jets backstory other than what he says and nothing ELSE of his goal in life other than like, staying alive + keeping his fighters safe + what they stood for and fighting the fire nation. and while that's all like definitely plenty to establish his character it's why i couldn't come around to him as quickly bc i didn't really see the point when regardless of everything i've said i pretty much don't think he WOULD want to "redeem" himself or change as a character in any way and he's kind of just some guy to me so i didn't really want to put the effort in myself. i don't fault anyone who does ofc.
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